A Step Back
by Thumbs04
Summary: Era of James and Lily.James and Lily's friend are interested in each other. Sirius falls for Lily's enemy causing tension between James and Sirius. Friendships tear apart as they are involved with the wrong girls. Lupin storyline included. R&R!
1. The Catch

**The Catch**

The whizzing sound of the golden snitch. His favourite sound, it get louder as he drew closer to the flying ball. Slytherin's seeker was right on his tail. '_Just a bit faster _' he thought. His hand reached out and so did his opponent's. The snitch started to fly higher and the seeker's followed. The ball did a sudden drop and Gryffindor's seeker swung his legs around so he was sitting on his broom and dropped back. His body swung from the broom and he reached out and grabbed the golden snitch.

'James Potter has caught the golden snitch! Gryffindor wins 220-90!' The crowd went wild and James re-mounted his broom properly and did a lap of the field. He looked into the crowd. He saw a flash of red hair. Lily Evans. She was laughing with one of her friends. Her green eyes rolled and her pink lips seemed to be mouthing "show-off." His heart dropped, now matter what Lily Evans would always think that he was an arrogant prick. He flew down to the pitch where his teammates enveloped him an a huge hug.

'Well done mate' Roger Jones yelled out. He was the captain of the team, a fine good chaser. Emma Bromley smiled at him. She was very attractive Emma and she was obviously fond of him. She had wavy blonde hair and blue eyes.

'Awesome catch' she told him giggling slightly.

'Thank you' he responded, 'you had some great saves' He nodded and then walked into the change room. Once he was changed he walked out into the court yard where he always met his friends after a match. Remus Lupin and Sirius Black were his best mates. His other friend…he hardly considered a friend but he was good for a laugh every now and then.

'Good one Prongs' Sirius called out as James walked closer. James smiled and ruffled his hair.

'It was b-b-b-rillantly done James! Well done!' Sirius shut his eyes and squeezed his lips together trying not to laugh.

'Thanks' James laughed out. James sat down under their tree and gazed out at the courtyard. Several people came by and gave him their compliments. He loved the attention after a well played game and quite frankly all games were well played. One compliment mattered to him most and he never got it. Lily Evans walked by with Chloe Campbell her best friend.

'Catch the game Evans?' James called out.

'Yes I did' Lily responded curtly

'What you think of it?' James asked putting his hands behind his head and leaning back.

'I thought it was a good match'

'Just a good match?' Peter Pettigrew called out, 'it was an amazing match! Did you see James catch!' Sirius started howling.

'Quite frankly I don't think that little stunt was necessary' Lily said looking straight at James, 'you could have just dove down and caught it. You only pulled that trick so all the girls would fancy you and so that the whole school would be buzzing about James Potter's winning catch'

'Doesn't sound too bad does it mate?' Sirius asked.

'Not bad at all' James replied, 'but your wrong Evans'

'Wrong?'

'Yes your wrong because you still won't go out with me' Lily stood there for a second not knowing what to say.

'I think you got her there' Sirius whispered.

'Does this mean you'll go out with me?' James asked a sly grin spreading on his face that would make most girls melt.

'No!' she said and stormed off with Chloe in tail who turned back towards the boys smiling.

'Nice try James' Lupin said as he glanced up from his book. Arguments with Lily Evans were no longer entertaining. They occurred on a daily basis, usually more than once.

'You know what I think Moony?' James asked looking over at his friends face hidden behind a book, 'I think you need to stop reading all the time and live a little' James never had the urge to pick up a book and start reading like Lupin did. Lupin studied hard and his marks usually reflected that. He excelled in Defence Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration.

'We do have a paper due tomorrow James' reminded Lupin, 'it may not hurt for you to pick up a book for a change' James had completely forgotten that a paper was due.

'An essay?' James was confused, 'What essay?'

'Twenty inch essay on werewolves' Lupin said as a matter of factly. James could not believe that Lupin was suggesting that he actually read for that assignment.

'Remus! Why should I pick up a book for that! It's on werewolves!' James shouted out. Lupin looked around anxiously making sure nobody was in ear shot, a few people looked over towards them and then resumed their conversations.

'SHH!' Lupin said anxiously. 'Let's not broadcast that here!'

'Ok' James said in a low whisper, 'Can you not just help us out a bit?'

'He's got a point Moony' Sirius said, ' I mean you're a werewolf, what's the point in picking up a book when you know it all?' Lupin felt obligated to help out his friends,

'Ok. I'll help you guys but I'm not going to write it for you. You have a question about it, then ask me' Everybody felt that that was fair and they set off to the common room to work on the essay.


	2. Wishing To Be A Werewolf

**Wishing To Be a Werewolf**

The Gryffindor common room was gorgeous and comfortable. A large fireplace had been ignited and students milled around the fire to seek warmth from the cool night. Plush chairs and couches littered the room and Lupin and Peter grabbed a couch and Sirius and James each pulled up a chair.

'So where should I start?' James asked and tapped his quill on his chin.

' I already told you I'm not helping with the writing, just with the facts' Lupin reminded him.

'The full moon appears and one of the wizard's most feared creatures comes alive' James said as his quill scratched at his parchment.

'Thanks' Lupin said sarcastically.

'Nothing against you, it's just a fact that your awfully feared' James said convincingly. Lupin shrugged it off. He did not choose to be a werewolf, Greyback; the most feared werewolf attacked him when he was a child. He knew that he was a nice person the rest of the time.

'Moony?' Sirius asked looking up from his paper.

'Mmm?' Lupin said his quill scratching furiously on the parchment.

'What if somebody gets attacked when it isn't a full moon? Still turn into a werewolf?'

'Possibly, depends on how close to the full moon. The bite would have to be deep I think' Sirius returned to his essay and started to write.

'Why would any werewolf attack somebody with their teeth if it was not a full moon?' James asked clearly disgusted.

'Greyback does it' Sirius told him. Lupin shuddered at the name and inhaled deeply and let it out slowly. The memory of the attack still remained fresh in his mind. 'He can't get enough of the taste of human flesh. He will savage on anybody at anytime, he always has the urge to sink his teeth into people's skin. It's an addiction now.' James sat there wide-eyed. Peter was shaking un-controllably, his teeth chattering loudly. They wrote in silence for a couple of minutes, fellow Gryffindors were filing out of the portrait hole to go to the Great Hall for dinner.

'Just another inch' James said not taking his eyes off the parchment, 'then we should go eat dinner. We can finish the rest afterwards.' Sirius nodded.

'Another inch and I'm done.' Lupin told them. All of them looked up and stared at Lupin.

'Your done!' James asked. Lupin shrugged. Sirius shook his head and went back to his paper,

'It's times like these that I wish I was a werewolf' Lupin laughed and put down his quill. The four headed down to the Great Hall where the feast had begun. Plates of chicken and vegetables and rolls sat on the four house tables. James looked down the table and sure enough Lily Evans was in her usual seat. She was eating quickly, James guessed so that she would have enough time to triple check her essay. Normally James would find this quality unattractive however for Lily it was apart of her charm. She was brilliant and worked so hard, her confidence in her work was admirable. She was muggle-born too, she had not grown up in the wizarding world but she was the smartest in their year. Most likely in the whole school, they were both in their sixth year at Hogwarts and James was unaware of a seventh year student smarter than Lily. James took his usual seat that was across from Lily and a few seats down. James could hear small pieces of Lily's conversation

'…terrifying creatures' she was saying.

'…it's good we're writing an essay on them, we get to learn all about them and ways to defend ourselves on them.' James laughed quietly. Werewolves were terrifying, the full moon takes full control over them and they will attack anybody in sight. Werewolves are completely unaware of who anybody is and would attack their own child or their best friend. Their speed is incredibly fast making it difficult to escape if you crossed ones path. Lupin was one of James's best friends so he, Sirius and Peter usually morphed into animals to be with Lupin during the full moon. Werewolves do not attack on animals as much as on humans. Wormtail was eating at a remarkable speed,

'Hey buddy take it easy' Sirius said as he grabbed a jug of pumpkin juice. James handed him his goblet for Sirius to fill, 'you'll have time to finish that essay don't sweat it.' Sirius was so laid back about his education, he could do miraculous things with a wand and was more interested on hands on magic rather than writing about it. If Sirius had to leave Hogwarts at that exact moment he would be fine in the wizarding world. James was a little anxious to get his essay done but he made sure that he still had his composure, he was cool.

The group worked their way back up the steps, their stomachs filled with delicious food. James, Sirius and Peter began to work on their essays, Lupin opened a book. The crowd in the common room started thinning while James scribbled his last few sentences completing his essay.

'Done' he stated. Sirius looked up,

'you serious?' he asked. James nodded and stretched his arms out wide and arched his back. Sirius looked down at his parchment, he guessed he had about another three inches to go.

'Werewolves are really bad' Sirius said as he wrote the words in big letters across the bottom of his page. James started laughing and Lupin even smiled as he looked up from his page. 'OK I'm done!' Sirius said as he rolled up his parchment and tucked his quill behind his ear. Wormtail sat there wide-eyed as Sirius got up and walked towards the stairway that led up to the boys dormitories. He turned around, 'Coming?' he asked.Wormtail realized that he was serious and started giggling. Lupin rolled his eyes and got up from his seat. The boys went up to the dormitories, classes started early the next morning.


	3. The Announcement

The Announcement

James and Sirius both threw on their robes and headed down to Charms. They had slept in and missed breakfast as usual. Lupin being a prefect never missed breakfast and was always on time for every class with his robes ironed. Sirius's robes were almost always disheveled. Professor Trechin their Charms teacher had already started the lesson when Sirius and James walked in.

'Ten points from Gryffindor' Trechin said without even looking up. The rest of the Gryffindors groaned as James and Sirius grabbed a table with Lupin.

'Just once mates' Lupin started, 'Just once even try to be on time'

'Class may begin with their spellwork' Trechin said and with a flick of his wand a cabbage appeared in front of each student. 'The incantations will not be spoken.' James and Sirius looked around for a second to see what they must do. All of the students were standing their really concentrated on their cabbages.

'What are we supposed to do?' Sirius asked Lupin.

'Turn the cabbages into rabbits' Lupin told him. Sirius thought for a moment and then turned to his cabbage and flicked his wand, it turned into a carrot.

'Step one complete' Sirius told his friends.

'A carrot?' James asked.

'Well rabbits and carrots are associated with each other so it makes it easier to turn the carrot into a rabbit then the cabbage into a rabbit' Sirius told them. James and Lupin turned to their cabbages and then turned them into carrots. They started at their carrots for a while trying to silently turning them into rabbits. James's carrot morphed into a black dwarf rabbit while Lupin's turned into a white rabbit. Sirius was still having trouble and by accident turned it into a frog.

'Rabbit…Ribbit…' he muttered. James picked up his dwarf rabbit and headed over to Lily's desk which she shared with her two best friends Chloe Campbell and Mel Harrison. Chloe was a new chaser on the Gryffindor team and she was steadily improving through practices. When James reached the desk he placed the rabbit on it and it hopped over to Lily.

'Hey look at the cute rabbit!' Lily squeaked, 'who did it?' She looked up and was obviously surprised to see James standing there. 'You did it?' she asked, 'how?'

'I'm not as dumb as you think I am' James whispered as he turned her cabbage into a carrot and walked away. Lily looked over at him as he walked back to his table where Sirius had finally managed to turn his carrot into a rabbit.

That night at dinner the old transfiguration teacher and new headmaster made an announcement.

'Greetings students' he called out, 'the Christmas holidays are nearing and this year we will hold a ball which will be held for all of Hogwarts students.' Cheering erupted from the hall and Dumbledore smiled as he let the cheering die down. 'The Ball will start at supper time on December 23rd to allow all students who are going home for Christmas holidays to attend. The event is formal so dress appropriately. Now for our current meal,' Dumbledore waved his wand and a feast appeared on each table.

'You know what this means padfoot?' James asked as he picked up a chicken leg.

'What mate?' Sirius said as he poured glasses of pumpkin juice to his three friends spilling Wormtails, 'sorry' he laughed.

'Dates' James told him raising his eyebrows.

'Who are you going to ask then?' Sirius asked,

'You know who I'm going to ask'

'I also know her answer' Sirius told him smiling slyly. There was no chance that Lily would say yes to James's invitation to the Christmas ball. James decided to wait until after dinner to ask Lily, he'd wait until they were in the common room. The boys spent the rest of dinner viewing over the tables looking for possible dates for Sirius and Remus. Sirius's eyes caught a brunette girl from Hufflepuff.

'How about Katie?' Sirius asked. She had sparkling brown eyes and long wavy dark brown hair. At the moment she was leaning over to one of her friends and laughing. She looked around for a second and saw Sirius, she smiled.

'Katie Shoreman?' James asked. Looking over to wear Sirius was looking. Sirius nodded. 'Hey she's a cute girl. Go for it padfoot' Sirius debated on whether asking her now before she was asked by another student but look anxious or sit back and wait. He decided to keep her interested but not ask right away, he had herbology with her the next day.

The common room was buzzing that night about who was going with who and who students hoped to go with. Girls talked about how they were going to do their hair and their make-up and what their dresses look like. Lily, Mel and Chloe sat in a corner chatting with each other. As he neared the girls sitting on the couch all of them cross-legged they looked up.

'Hey Lily' he said.

'Hi' she said barely looking up. _She might say no_ he started thinking, _in fact she probably will say no and I don't have anything really funny to say right now so I just won't embarrass myself. _'So did you finish your potions homework?' he asked.

'Yes I did'

'Another Outstanding from Professor Slughorn I bet' he said feeling really awkward. She smiled slightly,

'Hopefully.' She looked towards her friends.

'So practice tomorrow!' Chloe said brightly making conversation, 'Of course Jones wants us to have a morning practice.'

'Ya I don't like those much'

'They work quite well though, no other team uses the pitch so we have it all to ourselves.'

'They also get you to class on time,' Lily told him.

'Ya we don't lose so many points for Gryffindor those days,' Mel told him.

'Right…' he said and walked away.


	4. Acting The Hero

Acting the Hero

'Stir three times to the left' James said silently as he stared at his spell book with his cauldron in front. The Gryffindors and Slytherins were in potions with Professor Slughorn. Severus Snape, a favourite of Slughorn was doing something completely different than the steps in the book however was getting the proper results. 'How does he do that?' whispered James. Sirius looked over to Snape,

'Snivellus?' Sirius asked, James nodded. Sirius rolled his eyes, ' Who knows? All he does is study potions and the dark arts.'

At the end of class James put his imperfect potion in a flask and labeled it with his name. He walked down the aisle as Lily and Kaycee Handley; a Slytherin did also.

'Excuse me' Kaycee said frustratingly trying to push through towards the front with her flask. She shoved Lily causing her flask to fumble from her hands. The flask was as quick as a snitch and James dived down and caught it just before it hit the ground. The distraction allowed Christina Flemming to walk over to Lily's cauldron and pour some of her potion into her own flask undetected. Kaycee looked over to Christina and winked as Christina nodded. James handed the flask back to Lily,

'Here you go,' he said as he ruffled his hair.

'Thank you,' she told him as she worked her way to the front.

'I have a way you can repay me' he said speeding up to catch up with her.

'How is that?' Lily asked without turning around.

'Come to the ball with me' he said as a statement, a friendly order but not as a question.

'No' she told him as she set her flask down on Professor Slughorn's desk.

'I caught your flask,' he reminded her while placing his own flask beside hers.

'I could have easily filled another one,' she turned with a jerk and headed back towards her table to clean up.

'Good catch,' Chloe told him, 'that was nice of you.' James smiled and returned to his own desk where Sirius stood.

'Why do you like her so much mate?' he asked, 'look at how she treats you.'

'I don't know Black,' James told him and he thought for a moment, 'there's just something about her. She's smart and confident and sassy and beautiful and…'

'and she's the one girl who can say no to you' Sirius told him and walked away with his books and James followed him off to Herbology.

'I got myself a date' Sirius told James as they walked back up to the common room.

'Katie?' James asked as they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady who was turned away talking to another portrait of a pair of wizards playing a game of chess.

'Avada Kedavra' Sirius said dead-panned.

'Oh my goodness!' the Fat Lady screeched turning towards the boys, 'Oh Sirius Black!' she scolded. Sirius loved scaring the Fat Lady.

'I'm empty handed! No wand! Besides why would I want to kill you?' Sirius asked with a sly smile. The Fat Lady laughed,

'What's the passwords boys?'

'Phoenix' James said and the Fat Lady allowed the boys to pass through, 'Well good for you mate, Katie's a fun girl'

'Ya, she'll be good for now. Give her a shot and see how it goes right?' Sirius said casually.

'Well I don't know what to do,' James told him, 'Lily still hasn't caved.' Sirius was appalled at the idea that James would go dateless to the ball if Lily did not agree too.

'Take some other girl!' Sirius said, 'Half the girls are in love with you!' James smiled at Sirius's remark. Sadly enough he knew it was true, he could walk up to almost any girl and ask her out and they would agree, he knew that.

'Who?' James said asking Sirius for advice.

'How about Campbell?' Sirius asked.

'Chloe? Her best friend?' James asked as if Sirius must be joking. They walked over to a couch and sat down.

'Ya!' Sirius said, 'She's a sweet girl. Loves quidditch and is a pretty damn fine player. She's pretty enough too. Also might make Lily jealous!'

'Evans jealous?' James thought aloud. It could not be possible but if he was to invite anybody else he wanted to invite Chloe. Remus sat down beside them with a stack of books.

'Ancient Runes' he said as he put down a stack of books, 'the load Professor Tester is giving us is bloody unbelievable!' Lupin took a few extra courses than James and Sirius including Ancient Runes, Astronomy and Arithmancy.

'Hey pal you got a date to the ball?' James asked.

'It's full moon mate, I can't go' Lupin told them.

'Sorry 'bout that Moony' James told him. He was looking forward to spending the night surrounded by beautiful girls and his two best mates.

'Not your fault,' Lupin said obviously a little upset. He had learned to accept the fact that he had to miss out on a few things.


	5. Her Eyes

The Eyes

'Your going with Potter?' Lily asked her friend, 'James Potter?'

'Yes Lily, I am going with James Potter. You know the conceited boy you don't seem to get a long with?' Chloe said jokingly, 'that is alright with you isn't it?' Lily hesitated for a moment,

'Oh of course. Go. Have fun.' Lily said blushing.

'Please go with somebody Lily,' Chloe told her, 'It would be so much fun if we all had dates. Mel is already going with Arnold. Your bound to be asked, say yes.'

'Well anybody is better than James Potter' Lily told her.

'Incase you forgot he is my date and I rather like him.'

'So I hear Evans is going with Roger Jones' Lupin told James.

'Roger Jones?' James exclaimed, 'my quiditch captain Roger Jones?' Lupin nodded. 'Right then…' James paced back and forth, 'well I have a date!'

'Am I buttoned up right?' James asked Sirius pointing to his white button up collared shirt. James usually had one button off, he did not like getting all dressed up.

'Sure are,' Sirius told him as he threw on his dark grey pinstriped blazer. Sirius adjusted the collar of his baby blue button up shirt so it layered over top of his blazers collar. His light coloured beige cords fit him perfectly going straight down with a slight bag in the leg. He tousled his long dark wavy hair so that it still had it's messy look but was acceptable for the occasion. James looked just as handsome in a pair of black dress pants, a white long sleeved button up shirt with the top button un done to reveal a bit of chest and a black dress coat left open. A spritz of cologne later and the boys were ready to head off to pick up their dates. Sirius had spent the last few herbology classes with Katie and getting to know her and decided that he actually really liked her. Peter Pettigrew returned to the dormitory from the washroom with a piece of toilet paper stuck to his shoes. Sirius laughed quietly but decided to let the piece of unwanted paper remain a secret. Peter Pettigrew was wearing a pair of pants two sizes to big for him and a shirt two sizes too small. His light hair was greasy and clung to his skin which was covered in acne. The only reason why James, Sirius and Remus kept Peter as a friend was because he hated Severus Snape just as much as they did and would not dare tell the teachers their plans to torture Snape, in fact he would occasionally assist the trio.

'Hey so are we going to go see the girls?' Sirius asked as he tied up his shoes.

'Ya, we are going to pick up Chloe in the common room,' James told him as he opened the door to go down the stairs. 'See ya there Peter' James said. Sirius followed James down the stairs to the common room. Roger Jones was sitting alone on the couch staring at the fire.

'So I here your going with Evans,' James told him as he sat down on a plush chair.

'Um yes I am' he told him nervously.

'Ya she's pretty cool I guess…' James said casually. Roger was clearly confused by the comment. It was no secret that James liked Lily.

'I thought you liked her…' Roger said waiting for an answer. James leaned back in his chair and motioned for Sirius to take a seat across from him.

'I just like messin' with her you know?' James had to make sure that Roger did not think that James was upset about Lily going with him to the ball.

'Fun to watch Evans get all riled up,' Sirius added. Footsteps could be heard coming down the girl's stairway and the three boys could hear a set of giggling from three girls. Mel Harrison came down quickly,

'I'll see you guys soon! I'm late for meeting Arnold!' Mel came dashing down the stairway holding her dress up a bit while clomping down the stairs in her high heels. She walked briskly by the boys and acknowledged them with a nod and a smile before dashing out of the portrait hole. Chloe was seen first and she looked very pretty. She was wearing a flowing black halter dress that fell just above her knees. On her feet she wore a pair of red high heeled shoes. A sleek ponytail was held up high with a few face-framing pieces hanging down. She smiled as she saw James looking up at her and he returned the smile.

'You look very pretty tonight,' he told her and he meant it. However he was not prepared for what he saw next. Lily slowly came down the stairway in a stunning green dress with thin straps, ribbing on the sides and layers of wispy fabric that fell to her knees. Her illuminating red hair was straight and her sleek layers framed her face. The dress brought out her stunning green eyes, those that he could not keep his own off of.


	6. The Ball

**The Ball **(A long chapter)

The Great Hall was decorated for the festivities with garlands of silver, red and green tinsel. Mistletoe hung over the doorway and by the tables; there were several round tables that sat about a dozen people. The lights were off but small Christmas lights were twinkling and red, green and white spotlights shone down onto the dance floor moving from couple to couple. James looked for the source of the lights but he could not find them. There was a small wait at the doorway as some couples had stopped for the traditional kiss under the mistletoe.

'Excuse me, coming through' shouted Nearly Headless Nick who had a Santa Claus hat on. He ran straight through everybody. Kaycee Handley was waiting a long with them. She grabbed Sirius and pulled him in for a long kiss, Sirius pulled away first slightly confused,

'Didn't want to fight tradition,' Kaycee told him and walked away. Sirius went in to find Katie. She sat on a chair looking lovely in a green dress which was a darker, less bright shade of Lily's. The back tied up like a corset and the dress flowed down to her knees. Her dark brown hair was straightened and she had a small pompadour pinned up. Boys milled around and asked her to be their dates for the remainder of the dance,

'Sorry, I'm just waiting for my date to show up,' boys left disappointed. Three boys sat around talking to Katie as Sirius pulled up. He listened to one of them,

'Come on doll why you don't dance with me?' a seventh-year Ravenclaw asked.

'Because you haven't even learned to talk properly yet…I'm not sure if you'll be able to manage dancing,' Katie told him. Sirius smiled. He sat down with the boys as she declined more offers.

'How about me Katie?' Sirius asked smiling his sly sexy smile,

'Oh Sirius Black!' Katie said dramatically, 'You want me to be your date! How could I ever decline?' And with that Katie got up and grabbed Sirius's hands walking away from the dumbfounded boys that she declined. 'Thank you for rescuing me,' Katie told him as they walked towards James and Chloe.

'Anything for a beautiful girl,' Sirius told her. Sirius noticed that there was a pink tint to her cheeks as she smiled after he said that. 'So you have met James?'

'I know of him,' she winked. It was true that Katie did know of the famous James Potter and he was even in a few of her classes however she never really talked to Sirius or James that much.

'And Chloe,' Sirius motioned towards Chloe who had her arm hooked through James's.

'Hi Chloe,' Katie smiled, 'I love your shoes!'

'Thanks.' Chloe told her. The girls had talked a few times but never formed a friendship. There are always people in the school who you get a long with and enjoy their company but remain as a fellow student rather than a friend.

The four found Mel Harrison and her date; Arnold Wigby who was in Ravenclaw. Peter Pettigrew joined them for dinner who was dateless.

'Lily,' begged Chloe, 'please have dinner with us.' Lily looked over and saw Sirius and James talking as Katie and Mel chatted.

'I don't know,' Lily said looking towards Roger.

'You don't mind now do you Roger? You, me and James could perhaps talk a bit of Quidditch!' Chloe told him.

'C'mon Chloe I really don't get a long with James.'

'Then don't talk to him.' Chloe grabbed her friends hand and led her to the table with Roger in tow. Lily sat down between Roger and Chloe. Katie and James were in a deep conversation about Quidditch and Roger and Chloe joined in. Katie laughed,

'This isn't fair! I'm the only Hufflepuff here who plays Quidditch!' as the Gryffindor players were talking about how they were going to take Hufflepuff down.

'We're only messing with you Katie,' Chloe told her.

'Except for the fact that you are going to lose!' James exclaimed.

'Well we'll see about that, our match is just next month.' Katie told them. The Quidditch discussion ended and everybody decided to order their meal. They all looked down at their plates and said either chicken, pasta or ham.

'Man I wish I could have chicken and pasta...I mean who just eats one of them?' Katie told the table. Sirius agreed with her and they decided for each of them to order one and they would split both in half. Peter Pettigrew had a lot of difficulties with cutting his meat which made the whole table silently laugh.

'How hard is it to cut chicken?' Chloe whispered to James.

'Anything is difficult for Peter,' James whispered back and they both laughed. Lily so far hadn't said a word and was working on her pasta looking over to Chloe and James now and then.

'You a vegetarian?' James asked Lily trying to include her a bit while acknowledging her penne.

'No,' Lily said and then stopped talking.

_Ok then…_ James thought and didn't ask her another question. Mel who was sitting next to Peter offered maybe to help but he took it very offensively and spat,

'I can do it myself!'

'Well,' Mel retorted, 'clearly you can't!' Peter Pettigrew glared at her and she said, 'I was just trying to help…' in a quiet voice.

'Never mind him Mel,' Sirius told her, 'He doesn't get a long well with anybody.' Then Sirius whispered, 'God knows why he hangs around with us all day,' to Katie. When Sirius's and Katie's meals arrived Sirius realized that ordering chicken meant ordering a full chicken dinner complete with vegetables and potatoes. 'We have a lot of food!' Sirius told her. Katie forked a potato and flung it across to hit Peter squarely in the face,

'Not anymore we don't,' Katie whispered to him and Sirius laughed as Peter tried to wipe bits of potato off of his face. 'That was for being rude to Mel,' Katie told him and the whole table laughed. Sirius flung a potato over to hit Peter and said,

'That was just to watch you pick potato off of your face again!' Peter turned bright red as the whole table giggled quietly. He stood up abruptly and walked away from the table in a huff.

'See now you're my kind of girl,' Sirius whispered into Katie's here.

Sirius, Katie, James and Chloe headed off to the dance floor where Come Together by The Beatles was playing. The couples danced until their feet became sore. James noticed Roger and Lily talking on the side and Lily glancing into the group of dancers wishing to dance. Chloe decided to take a quick break and go get a glass of egg nog. James took this chance to ask Lily to dance. As he reached her 'Your Song' by Elton John started playing.

'Roger do you mind if Lily comes and has one dance with me?' James asked politely. Roger looked towards Lily shrugging and motioning towards James,

'I'm not much of a dancer myself' Roger told him and James smiled.

'Lily?' James asked and held out his hand for her to grab. She looked at him for a second and then at Roger. She smiled as she grabbed his hand and he pulled her up. He held on to her tightly as the slow song played and they swayed back and forth. He felt her breath on the side of his neck. Lily brought her head up so she was staring directly into James eyes. _Anyway the thing is what I really mean.Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen_and the song stopped as James stared into Lily's green eyes.

'They really are,' he whispered to her.

'What?' she asked.

'Your eyes, they are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen,' She smiled slowly and then saw Chloe walking over to her.

'Hey Lily,' Chloe said giving her a hug. She looked at the two of them for a second looking confused.

'Roger wouldn't dance and I really wanted to so James offered to dance with me,' Lily told her looking over at James.

'Hey that was nice of you James,' Chloe smiled at him and hooked her arm through his. Chloe stood there smiling at Lily and Lily stared at James not wanting to let go of her gaze as James stared back. Chloe turned to smile at James and the magic between James and Lily was gone. Lily smiled at James and nodded and then smiled over at Chloe.

'I have to go get back to Roger,' she told them, a little sad, 'thanks for the dance James.' He nodded at her and then Chloe pulled him in as Stairway to Heaven started playing.

Sirius and Katie were dancing to the Led Zeppelin hit more in the middle of the dance floor.

'So having fun?' Sirius asked her.

'Ya, I am' she told him smiling.

'So am I,' he told her and then leaned down to kiss her. She smiled slightly as they kissed, it was short but sweet and Sirius pulled back smiling. He was genuinely happy at that moment, a feeling that he wasn't used to feeling. He was used to living on the edge, being a little moody. In a way he thrived on that feeling. When Katie went to the bathroom Kaycee Handley came up to him as a techno mix played.

'Dance with me,' she said seductively. Her long blonde hair was straight and fell down her back. She wore a tight black strapless mini dress and she looked really hot. Sirius thought for a moment and then decided to see what he liked more: Sweet, pretty, funny Katie or hot, seductive Kaycee. She danced close and wrapped her arms around his neck and grinded with him. He thought Kaycee was a fun party girl but he realized that he actually liked being with Katie.

'Sirius?' he heard and he turned around, Katie stood there looking a little shocked and really hurt. She turned and walked away,

'Katie!' he yelled and ran away from Kaycee, 'Katie! Listen to me!' He followed her outside of the Great Hall.

'Listen to what?' she said and she turned, a few silent tears dripping down her face.

'I…' he didn't know what to tell her. What he wanted to do was make the tears disappear and for her familiar smile to spread across her lips. He stood there staring at her still pretty face and didn't know what to say. His mouth froze still open but no sound escaped. Katie glared at him giving a 'screw you' smile and turned around and walked away. Sirius walked back in and Kaycee stood there at the door, 'I liked her!' he told her, 'you know that? I really, really liked her.'

'What?' she said inching closer to him, 'and you don't like me?' she came up and kissed him. Not the kind of kiss he shared with Katie. This kiss was longer and hot. It was filled with lust and anger, not love and happiness. This was the kind of kiss that Sirius usually shared for he had never loved anybody in his life. Sirius pulled away first and looked down on Kaycee and thought for a moment. What was he getting into?

'Let's dance,' she whispered. He nodded and danced with her for the rest of the night but did not say a word.


	7. Christmas Brunch

**Christmas Brunch**

'I love the Christmas holidays,' James declared sitting in front of the Christmas tree in the Gryffindor common room. James, Remus, Sirius, Lily and a family consisting of a third year boy and a first year girl were the only remaining Gryffindors. James was surrounded by presents. He got a broom maintenance kit, a set of dungbombs, chocolate frogs, a new set of robes. The only two presents left un-wrapped under the tree were the presents that Sirius and James were left to give to each other.

'It's breakable mate, be careful' Sirius told him as James unwrapped the gift. Inside was a mirror that at the moment only showed James's reflection. 'It's a two way mirror, I have the other one. Say my name and if I have my mirror on me, where ever I am we can talk.'

'Wow that is so cool!' James told him. 'Thanks mate! High quality magic you had to do to make this!' Sirius shrugged it off and grabbed his present from James. The present was awfully thin. A knife was held inside, Sirius waved it around for a second,

'To…' Sirius thought for a moment, 'stab people with?' James laughed.

'It's a lock-picker. It can open any door,' James told him with a grin.

'Hey! Nicely done!' Sirius told him, 'Thanks!' Lily chose that moment to come downstairs looking exhausted.

'Get much sleep last night Evans?' Sirius asked. Lily shook her head and headed out the portrait hole.

'Merry Christmas Lily,' James and Sirius heard Remus say as he headed into the common room. Lupin sat down with his friends.

'Given up on Evans James?' Remus asked him.

'For now I guess,' James said even though he knew that he would never give up on her. 'Chloe's great you know?' And he was serious, he really did enjoy Chloe's company, she was pretty and funny and played quidditch but they still didn't have that chemistry that James and Lily had.

'How 'bout Katie Sirius?' Lupin asked him. This was Lupin's first conversation with Sirius about Katie and he was really curious about how the date went.

'Blew it,' Sirius told him.

'How'd you manage that?'

'I danced with Kaycee Handley…I mean really danced with her and Katie caught me and stormed off.'

'You danced with Kaycee?' Lupin asked loudly. 'The Slytherin?'

'Ya her' Sirius told him unenthusiastically.

'She's not your type,' Lupin told him.

'She's not, not my type. She's not my first choice and all but she's not that bad.'

The trio headed down to the dining hall for a Christmas brunch. There was one large table rather than four because there were so little students. Kaycee and Christina Flemming were two of the three remaining Slytherin's, the other one was Severus Snape. Kaycee walked over to Sirius as he sat down and sat on his lap. Christina sat on the other side of Sirius. Lupin looked over at James and he shrugged. James sat down next to Sirius and Kaycee and Lupin took his other side. James and Lupin didn't talk to Sirius much considering that he had a girl sitting on his lap the whole time. Sirius barely talked for the entire duration of the brunch. Lily sat down next to Lupin in a red jumper and a pair of jeans.

'Nice jumper,' Christina said sarcastically. Lily ignored her and forked a few breakfast sausages onto her plate.

'It doesn't really go with your hair Evans,' Kaycee told her, 'It so isn't your colour.' Lily looked over at them and raised her eyebrows,

'Right, thanks for the information.'

'A gift Lily?' Lupin asked her.

'Ya, my mom made it. She's just learned how to knit.'

'That's sweet that she would make a sweater for you,' Lupin told her.

'Ya, it is. I miss her' Christina and Kaycee were eavesdropping onto the conversation.

'Oh right you're a muggle born,' Kaycee said glaring over at Lily.

'I don't know what all the boys want to do with a filthy mudblood' Christina retorted. James bolted up and walked over to Christina wand pulled out and ready,

'Don't you dare call her that! You're just jealous that she is smarter and prettier than you are and she isn't a pureblood!' James was fuming and Christina stood up from the chair.

'I wouldn't point that wand at me Potter,' Christina told him and Kaycee got up from Sirius's lap.

'We could make your life a living hell. We're Slytherin's, purebloods. Some of us know how to do things with wand that you don't even want to know about and we have connections' Kaycee told him.

'So what?' James asked, 'Your going to go get You-Know-Who to come down here during the Christmas holidays to come and curse me? You all pal-sy with him? He send you a Christmas card? Or is there somebody in the school who will come and hurt me? Like….' James laughed, 'Snivellus.' Severus Snape looked up from his breakfast. 'Just to let you know girls,' he leaned in towards them pretending to whisper, 'he's a half-blood.' Snape got up and started yelling, James flicked his wand in his direction and Snape instantly became a mute. Snape looked like he was still yelling and his arms were flailing but no sound came out. Snape took out his wand to do a silent incantation,

'Expelliarmus,' Lupin said with his own wand and Snape's wand went flying out of his hand. Snape began to run at James looking like he was going to strangle him,

'Petrificus Totalus,' Sirius incanted and Snape's arms clung to his sides and his legs shot together, he was as stiff as a board and fell straight over. Lupin got up and turned him so his face wasn't facing the ground so he could breathe.

'Don't try to mess with us,' Lupin told him. James walked up to Sirius and looked at him straight in the eye.

'I can't stand your girlfriend.' He walked away with Lupin nodding to Sirius and following him leaving Sirius behind and a shocked expression on Lily's face.


	8. Real Competition

**Real Competition**

''50-30 for Gryffindor! An excellent goal by Roger Jones!' the commentator yelled over the cheering of Gryffindor fans. James surveyed the pitch filled with Gryffindor and Hufflepuff players. Katie Shoreman was circling the pitch searching for the golden snitch. He tried to keep an eye on the pitch as well as the opposing seeker. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Katie dive and cut to the edge of the field and then into the middle, she was going at a super fast speed and James dived quickly to follow her. She weaved in between players and reached out her hand and then to his surprise stopped abruptly. She turned to look at him rain dripping from her hair and mud smeared across her face. He stopped quickly and nearly flew off his broom and then realized that Katie had tricked him into thinking that she saw the snitch. She glowered down at him from just a few feet above and then flew higher and began to circle once more. James flew up to meet her.

'That was a good trick,' James told her, 'good flying too.' Katie looked over at him,

'Thanks,' she said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. James watched the field and saw Chloe throw the quaffle into the left ring. He smiled as he watched her fly back into position as if nothing big just happened.

'60-30 for Gryffindor!' Katie rolled her eyes slightly as the surveyed the field. Katie began to circle James distracting him from the field,

'Quite frankly I don't care what you think about my flying. Your just the same as him.' She stopped and then began to fly slowly around the field and James followed her,

'Your wrong Katie!' he shouted out to her, 'I disagree with what Sirius did and that's the first time I have ever disagreed with him!' Katie turned to look at him and stared straight into his eyes,

'Ya well I-' she bolted off and then started flying at a quick pace down to the opposite end of the field. James followed suit and flew quickly until he was neck to neck. She pulled back again and James actually flew off his broom. He landed with a thud,

'and James Potter has been thrown off his broom! The second time he has fell for Shoreman's fake!' James quickly got onto his broom and kicked off,

'They fall for it everytime,' Katie told him as he flew back up to her level. James gave her a confused look, 'You talk to them and then in the middle of a sentence you fly off as if you've seen the snitch.' James flew away from her to make sure that her strategy would not work on him again.

'70-30!' The crowd broke out once more. 'Jameson has the quaffle' the commentator yelled out, 'but OH! He's gotten beaten by a bludger! Hufflepuff has regained possession. Lindow has the quaffle and Bromley has saved yet another quaffle from going through the hoop! Campbell has possession, could the Gryffindors score again! Yes! Campbell has made the score 80-30!' James smiled as he watched his players move around with ease and then out of the corner of his eye he saw Katie dive once more and this time he saw her chasing a flash of gold. _I have a strategy too Katie_ he thought as Katie chased the snitch clock wise around the pitch, James cut through and chased it counter clock-wise. The snitch was exactly right in the middle of them, luckily for James he had longer arms as he reached out and grabbed the snitch and cut in to the middle before he and Katie crashed. Katie tried to break and flew off her broom into a mud puddle.

'Gryffindor wins!' All the players came down to cheer and the captains shook hands. James walked over to Katie who sat in the mud puddle extremely mad. He held out his hand and she took it for him to help her up.

'You were some good competition,' James told her. He hadn't felt real competition in a while. It was the first time that he saw her smile since the ball.

'Thanks,' she told him this time without a hint of sarcasm. 'You're a great seeker, I wasn't really planning on catching the snitch.'

'I thought you were going to, too bad your arms aren't a little longer.' Chloe came walking up to him,

'you coming to get changed?' she asked in muddy robes and drenched hair. He looked down and realized that he was in the exact same situation.

'Ya, Let's go.' He said and him and Chloe started to head to the change rooms hand in hand. 'Bye Katie, talk to you later.'

Lily watched James and Chloe walk to the change room from the bleachers and felt a small churn in her stomach. She heard footsteps coming from behind her down the steps and heard a girl whisper in her ear,

'She's a pure-blood,' and then she heard the footsteps descending the stairs.


	9. The Animal Kingdom

The Animal Kingdom

The corridor holding the transfiguration classroom was deserted except for Sirius and Kaycee Handley. Kaycee was kissing Sirius and even though his lips met hers he was not kissing her back. Nobody would pass them because everybody was in class, what Sirius did not expect was for Katie to run late. She ran around the corner with her books in her hand and halted at the sight. Sirius pulled away and saw Katie standing there for a second and then she looked down and walked in to the class,

'Sorry to interrupt,' she told them.

'Damn it,' Sirius whispered frustrated that Katie found him that way. 'Katie…' he called out walking into the room forgetting that a lesson was going on.

'Ten points from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff,' Professor McGonagall, 'Mr. Black this is your third late class in a row, you will have detention with me tomorrow evening.' Sirius nodded and took a seat beside James and Lupin. 'As I was saying,' McGonagall started again, 'You have already paired off, you will turn your partner into the animal of your choice. Please no harmful creatures, let's stick to the basics. You may begin!' James and Chloe turned towards each other, they had already chosen to be each other's partner. Usually in this scenario James would ask McGonagall for Sirius to join his partnership however he just turned Chloe and asked,

'What animal do you want to be?' Sirius didn't stick around for the answer, he looked for Lupin who had paired up with Lily, he searched the room looking for an available partner. Katie stood searching the room too but never looked at Sirius. Professor McGonagall called out,

'Sirius, Katie, you two will partner up. Since you were late everybody else is gone.' Katie looked like she wanted to kill Professor McGonagall. Sirius walked over to her and sat down.

'Great,' she said sarcastically while rolling her eyes. Sirius didn't even know what to tell her he just stood there awkwardly. 'So what animal would you like to turn into?' Sirius just looked at her without saying anything. 'Ok…' she said. 'I'll just choose…' Katie looked at her surroundings. There were cats, owls, dogs, frogs, a wolf, Lily had just been turned into a parrot and was flying around the room. Katie flicked her wand and silently turned Sirius into a shark. He couldn't breathe because he was not in water. He heard a voice in the distance which could have only been Professor McGonagall's,

'Miss.Shoreman!' Katie sighed and flicked her wand and he immediately turned into a skunk, Sirius backed away from Katie in his skunk form extremely scared. As an animal he was powerless and could not use his wand. Gas filled the room and everybody ran out screaming and laughing. James, Lupin, Chloe and Lily stood at the door gazing in surrounded by the rest of the class some still in animal form. 'Miss.Shoreman you turn him back immediately!' Katie rolled her eyes,

'If you insist,' she flicked her wand and Sirius re-formed as a human. He stood there staring at her in complete disbelief. He actually didn't know she was so good at transfiguration, she could change him from animal to animal very smoothly.

'You smell,' she said scrunching her nose.

'Detention Miss. Shoreman! You can join me and Mr. Black tomorrow night!' Professor McGonagall told her straightening her glasses and smoothing her hair, 'and NO funny business!' McGonagall waved her wand and the smell vanished. 'Class!' she yelled out and the rest of the students filed in. Chloe was a raccoon and walked back into the room with James and Lupin along with Lily who flew in. 'This lesson is over. There will be a one roll of parchment essay on animal transfiguration due next Tuesday. Class dismissed.' Sirius looked over at Katie wondering what detention was going to be like.

A/N-for those who like the Sirius/Katie stories then good because they're kind of the big deal right now…but don't worry! James/Chloe/Lily lovers, those chapters are coming soon! Just be patient! R&R!


	10. Detention

Detention

Sirius changed into muggle clothes up in his dormitory.

'What do you think detentions going to be like?' Sirius asked James and Lupin.

'Don't know mate,' James told him, 'Katie sure is mad.'

'Who knows how long this row will last between the two of you,' Lupin told him.

'You deserve it,' James whispered. Sirius turned to him a little angry and a little upset.

'I deserve it?' Sirius asked.

'Yes you deserve it!' James told him, 'How would you feel if you found your date dancing with the most loathsome person in the school. She is horrible! Her and her friend! The way they treat people!' Even though Sirius knew he was partially right he could not stand being wrong,

'She is not the most loathsome! Sure she isn't the nicest person, we just have different opinions on things!'

'She's horrible Sirius and you know it! No wonder Katie is upset, you chose Kaycee Handley over her!' Lupin told him.

'I did not choose Kaycee! Katie left! What was I supposed to do!' Sirius exclaimed looking at his two best friends for help, James told him;

'you were supposed to go after her.'

Sirius entered McGonagall's office and found that Katie was already there. She looked over at him and for a second looked a little sorry for what she did but then went back to her glare. McGonagall motioned for Sirius to sit down next to Katie and across from herself.

'Alright Sirius, Katie,' McGonagall started, 'There is two options. You guys can split up and have a one long night detention or work together and have two short detentions.' Sirius would normally have gone for one long night detention however he wanted to talk to Katie and this would be a perfect opportunity. Before Katie could open her mouth Sirius said,

'I'd like to do the two nights Professor.' Sirius smiled over at Katie who looked confused. She clearly wanted to have one long detention rather than spend two nights with him.

Sirius and Katie were working away sorting all the books in the library. McGonagall confiscated their wands until they were done.

'Why are we doing this?' Katie asked.

'Last time I checked I was late for class and you turned me into a shark on land and then a skunk.'

'I meant why are WE doing this. I mean I could be doing one thing and you could be doing another.' Sirius went over to pile some books onto a shelf.

'I wanted to talk to you,' Sirius told her.

'Then talk,' she told him. 'I can't stop you. After all I am wandless.' Sirius nodded and then thought for a second about what he had to say.

'I should have gone after you,' he told her quietly putting another book on the shelf. Katie walked to the other side of the shelf where she could see Sirius through a gap in the books. 'I wanted to go after you.'

'You didn't.' She told him.

'I know.'

'Why?' she asked seriously, 'I thought you liked me.' Sirius looked into her brown eyes from the other side of the bookshelf.

'I did like you,' he told her and then quickly corrected himself, 'I do like you.'

'Well if you really liked me you would have stayed with me, explained to me why you danced with her. You would have told me that you liked me and that what you did was wrong. You would have apologized. You wouldn't have opened your mouth and not spoke a word. You wouldn't have gone and danced with Kaycee afterwards and I wouldn't have caught you with her in a deserted corridor.' Sirius could see her eyes watering slightly. Katie moved back around to his side of the shelf so that she could look directly at Sirius. 'Sirius…if you liked me. You would be with me now, I would have forgived you because I liked you.' Sirius bit his lip, 'But it's too late now,' she whispered. She went back to sorting books and they didn't say another word for the rest of the night.

Sirius went back to the common room after his second day of detention which was spent without a word spoken as they cleaned out old potions flasks and labeled new ones. Chloe, James, Lupin and Lily were sitting around the fire.

'How did it go?' Chloe asked Sirius.

'The silence was deafening,' Sirius told them all. Sirius sat down next to Lily and buried his face in his hands.

'You could start by breaking up with Kaycee…' Lily told him, the comment went ignored. Sirius looked over to James and Chloe who were holding hands on the couch. James actually liked Chloe, it started off because Evans wouldn't go for him but then he realized that he actually liked her. Sirius wished that everything would go the same for him and Katie as it was for James, then he changed his mind. No matter how much James liked Chloe…Lily would always be in the back of his mind.


	11. Goodnight

A/N: This is one of my favourite chapters. Short yet sweet.

Goodnight

James and Chloe were getting much closer and they spent every night together until one of them got tired. Sometimes they were accompanied by Peter, Remus, Sirius, Chloe or Mel. On a cold Sunday night in January Chloe was the first to get tired, she kissed James good night and then went upstairs leaving Lily and James. They both sat their awkwardly for a minute not knowing whether to head up to the dormitory.

'So everything's good with you and Chloe?' Lily asked quietly.

'Ya,' James told her. 'Everything good with you Evans?'

'Mmmhmm,' she nodded not making eye contact with James. James looked at her for a second and smirked slightly,

'We haven't talked in a while Evans.'

'We never talked before James. You just tried to get me to go out with you.'

'Right.' James laughed for a second, 'Can't do that anymore now can I?'

'Nope' she said. 'I guess we could talk though.' She looked over at him.

'About what?'

'Anything you want I guess. It just seems weird because now we don't talk. I mean, just because you have a girlfriend?' Lily shivered as goosebumps formed on her arm. The fire was lit but it was not emitting enough warmth. James noticed the small bumps on her delicate arms and that her teeth were chattering slightly. He took out his wand and flicked it and the fire grew and became brighter. A warm glow spread over Lily and she relaxed.

'How'd you do that?' She asked him quizzically.

'Well if I told you then it would take away a part of my mysterious charm,' he said grinning. He immediately wiped the smile off his face, 'not that I want to charm you or anything.' She nodded briskly,

'Oh I would never assume that. I mean…why would you want me to give into your charm?'

'I wouldn't.' He said. _Because your beautiful. Because your smart. Because your perfect. _They both just looked at each other for a second and James fell into a trance by her green eyes.

'I have to go to bed,' she said abruptly. Getting up and smoothing out her robes.

'Yes I'm quite tired too,' he said and got up. He had never been more awake in his life. She walked one way around the couch and he walked the other way where they both collided making Lily stumble, James reflexes made him reach out and steady her.

'Right. Thanks.' Lily said smoothing out her robes again.

'No problem,' James said feeling extremely awkward.

'So…' Lily said searching for word, 'Good night.' Those were the only two words she came up with.

'Ya good night.' He said. They stood there for a second not knowing how to leave. Lily reached out her hand and James shook it. 'Goodnight,' he said.

'You already said that,' she told him smiling slightly still shaking his hand. She looked down at their hands and then pulled away quickly.

'Goodnight.' James said as he walked up the stairs. Lily laughed quietly as James hit himself on the head.


	12. Too Late?

Too Late?

The next Hogsmeade trip was scheduled for February 14th; Valentine's Day. Chloe and James walked hand in hand through the snow talking and laughing just a head of Sirius, Lily and Lupin. The five of them all walked to The Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer. The Three Broomsticks was packed full with students seeking warmth. The five grabbed a table and they all fought over who went to get the butterbeers.

'No chance am I going,' Sirius told them and as he glanced over to the bar he noticed Katie talking to Madam Rosmerta. 'Ok! Ok! I'll go!' Sirius told them and got up from the table and headed over to the bar. He looked over at Katie and gave her that sly smirk of his. She kept a straight face and nodded in acknowledgement. He could see a hint of her wanting to smile by the small sparkle in her eyes and the corners of lips starting to edge upwards but she didn't smile. Madam Rosmerta came over with Katie's butterbeers, Katie paid and thanked her and then walked off.

'Hello Rosie,' Sirius greeted the barmaid.

'Sirius,' she said smiling, 'what can I get for you?'

'Five butterbeers,' Sirius told her laying the money on the table. Sirius walked back with his hands full and carefully placed the drinks on their table. James and Chloe were in a deep conversation and Lily and Remus were talking. Sirius pulled his seat around so he could see Katie from where he sat and then began to talk to Lily and Remus.

'What are you two talking about?' Sirius asked while taking a swig of butterbeer.

'Potions class,' Lupin told him.

'Ah schoolwork, what a fun conversation indeed.' He pushed all the butterbeers so that one would be in front of each person. The door flew open and Kaycee Handley strutted in. She eyed Sirius and then went over to talk to him. She pulled a chair up in between Lily and Sirius,

'Hey Baby,' she told him and then leaned in to kiss him. Sirius kept his eyes open and could see Katie out of the corner of his eye. She was laughing with her friends and as she turned slightly she caught sight of Sirius and her face went pale and she stopped laughing immediately. He pulled away quickly and Kaycee asked him to get a butterbeer. He watched his table as he ordered another butterbeer and saw Lily get up quickly with an angry expression on her face. Lupin scowled at Kaycee and he got up and followed Lily out the door. Chloe and James moved to another table leaving Kaycee sitting there, she shrugged and looked over to Sirius.

'You horrible girl!' Chloe yelled out to her, 'How dare you say that!' James had his wand out and ready.

'Hey Rosie,' Sirius called out. 'Get the next person who comes to give it to Kaycee.' Sirius watched Lily and Lupin through the window and saw what direction they were heading in.

'I'll give it to Kaycee, no problem' Katie told Sirius. He hadn't even noticed that she came to his side.

'Uh, thanks' Sirius told her and then headed for the door. Katie grabbed the butterbeer and walked over to Kaycee,

'Sirius told me to give this to you,' and with that Katie poured the butterbeer over Kaycee's head. The Three Broomsticks erupted in cheers as Katie sat down with her friends.

Sirius ran to catch up with Lily and Lupin. He could hear Lily's voice,

'and if she calls me "Mudblood" one more time!' Lily was getting mad.

'She called you that?' Sirius asked Lily when he finally caught up.

'Your girlfriend is sick you know that?' Lily asked him clearly outraged, 'She is the most fowl girl I have ever met!' Remus looked up at Sirius with a bit of disgrace in his eyes and he nodded. Sirius remained speechless.

'What about Katie?' Remus asked.

'She said it's too late,' Sirius told them.

'It's not too late but she treated you like crap,' Lily told him.

'You treated James like crap and he never gave up on you!' Sirius exclaimed. Lily looked up, she wasn't expecting that retort.

'Yes he has,' she told him. 'In case you didn't notice he's in there with my best friend.' Remus looked over at Sirius and they nodded.

'Lily,' Remus said holding her arm and steering her into the street, 'Let's go for a little walk.' They started walking down the main road in Hogsmeade. Sirius and Lupin began to tell Lily all about James and his feelings for her.

'So you see Lily, he asked Chloe to the ball to make you jealous.' Sirius told her.

'But ended up falling for her,' Lily told them. This part was true, James liked Chloe a lot but that didn't keep Lily out of the back of his head.

'He still cares for you Lily,' Lupin told her, 'I'm not sure if he'll ever stop.'

'Well it's too late now,' Lily told them both.

'If it's not too late for me, it's not to late for you.' Sirius told her.


	13. The Show

The Show

'She what!' Sirius exclaimed in the common room surrounded by his friends. James and Chloe were laughing hysterically.

'She dumped the butterbeer all over her hair!' Chloe repeated still laughing. 'You should have seen it Sirius it was bloody brilliant!'

'Did she say anything when she did it?' Sirius asked them.

'She went, "Sirius told me to give this to you"!' James told him holding a stitch in his side. Sirius's eyes went wide and then he went speechless. Lily and Lupin were both laughing.

'Serves her right the dirty cow,' Chloe exclaimed, 'nobody gets away with calling my best friend a mudblood!' Lily smiled at Chloe and Chloe gave her a hug.

'I can't believe I missed it,' Mel exclaimed.

'Me neither!' Lily, Lupin an Sirius exclaimed.

They all exited through the portrait of the Fat Lady and headed down for dinner. They all sat down and began to eat when they heard applause from the Hufflepuff table. Sirius looked over to the doorway and saw that Katie had just entered. He quickly stood up and ran over to her.

'I heard what you did,' Sirius told her. She kept on walking and Sirius walked along side of her.

'You mad at me?' she asked while keeping her straight face.

'Curious,' he told her, 'Why did you do it?'

'She called Lily a mudblood, we can't have that now can we?'

'I think there may have been another reason,' Sirius told her his smirk spreading on his lips. She stopped and looked at him with a smirk of her own,

'Oh you do now do you?' Sirius nodded. She tried to get a seat on the Hufflepuff bench which was directly across from the Gryffindor bench but Sirius blocked it. She cocked her head to one side and looked impatient as she tapped one of her feet on the floor.

'Even if that was true,' Katie told him. 'Even if it was true that I still liked you it doesn't mean that I could just go back to being with you.'

'You don't trust me,' Sirius told her.

'And why should I?' Katie asked her, 'You haven't shown me any reason to trust you.'

'I know,' Sirius told her, 'but just hear me out right now.' Katie looked up at him and nodded. The whole Hall had gone quiet and were listening to their conversation but to them, they were alone. 'Katie,' Sirius started again, 'I like you. I really do. When you left during the ball and Kaycee came up,' Katie bit her lip at the sound of her name, 'I wanted to see if what I felt with you was real. If what I felt with you is what I wanted to feel because I wasn't used to feeling like that.'

'Like what?' Katie asked him.

'Like you were perfect for me. Like I could potentially fall in love with you.' Katie looked like she was going to cry. 'And when I danced with Kaycee it didn't feel like anything like the feeling I had with you which made me realize that I wanted to be with you.' This time Katie remained speechless and Sirius was the one who couldn't stop talking. He was afraid that if he stopped talking then she would leave. 'When I went after you and I had nothing to say…it was because I was scared of chasing you away and saying the wrong thing.'

'Saying nothing was the wrong thing,' she told him. Sirius knew that now because he could see that Katie was listening and was edging towards giving him that second chance. Sirius nodded,

'I know that now Kate. Please just give me that second chance. Just tell me that I'm not too late.' Sirius stared into her brown eyes. His own eyes showed worry and begging and love. The whole school was watching Katie, wondering what she was going to say next

Without saying a word Katie kissed him . This kiss which was brewing inside of them for sometime lasted longer than the one at the dance but was just as sweet. The applauding grew again much louder then one Katie first walked in. Once it died down they broke apart both of them smiling.

'Your not too late,' she told him and he grinned as he leaned down and kissed her once more. 'You smell,' she whispered. The applause grew louder, everybody was clapping except for the Slytherin table.

'What a show!' somebody yelled out.

A/N…for the James/Lily/Chloe lovers, the next few chapters will be devoted to them and a bit of Lupin. Sirius/Katie will still make regular appearances but chapters will not be centered around them.


	14. Brewing The Potion

Brewing The Potion

'Who's birthday is it tomorrow?' James asked childishly at breakfast.

'My birthday!' Chloe exclaimed gleefully. She was turning seventeen and she would officially become of age. 'I hope it's nice out,' Chloe told everybody. 'Every year all the snow starts melting and it's all slushy on my birthday. I hate March.'

'Well I'll just have to make it perfect,' James told her making Chloe smile and Lily gag.

'Wrong tube,' Lily told them coughing while clearing her throat. Sirius and Katie looked up from their conversation and noticed Lily looking over at James and Chloe. Katie started to try and cheer Lily up when the Gryffindor prefect came,

'You're a Hufflepuff!' he exclaimed at Katie. Katie looked down at her robes and her black and yellow tie,

'Wow!' she exclaimed, 'So I am!' She looked surprised at this newfound information making everybody laugh. The prefect glared at her and pointed towards the Hufflepuff table, Katie nodded at the prefect and saluted him as she got up and moved to the Hufflepuff table. Sirius smiled over at her and then started chatting with his Gryffindor pals.

'What should we do?' James asked curious as how to make the birthday special.

'I don't know,' Chloe told him, 'we don't have to do anything special.' James leaned over to Sirius and whispered,

'Ha, don't do anything special!' Sirius smirked, he knew that James probably had a few ideas up his sleeves. One of which would involve the help of Lily.

Lily and James walked into an empty classroom while James carried his cauldron and ingredients. Lily carried a potions book and a key to Professor Slughorn's cabinet.

'You are the only person he'd trust,' James told her. Lily knew it was true, Lily was Professor Slughorn's favourite student.

'What are we brewing?' Lily asked him. James thought for a moment and then reached over to Lily's book and started flipping.

'There's the joyous potion.' James started quoting the book, 'ensuring happiness to the taker for 24 hours. No obstacle will come to upset them. Sometimes their wildest dreams come true' James looked up and gave Lily a look that was asking for her advice,

'How long does it take to make?' Lily asked.

'It's not very complicated and it doesn't have to sit for more than an hour.' James told her. Lily consulted the book and then plucked the viles that held the appropriate ingredients out of Professor Slughorn's cabinet. After adding the final ingredient; a single unicorn hair, all they had to do was wait for it to settle.

'How should I give it to her?' James asked Lily. 'You're her best friend, you know her best.'

'I don't know,' Lily told him. James nodded and looked over at Lily,

'Any plans for your friends birthday?'

'Well she loves candy and her favourite is toffee so I got her, her favourite kind and enchanted it.' James was curious,

'What was the enchantment?'

'Once it's on it's last bite it will grow back.' Lily told him.

'She'll never have to buy another one again?' James asked. Lily shook her head,

'never again.' James went up to check on the potion which was supposed to be turning from red to yellow.

'It's orange,' James told Lily who was reading her potions book.

'Then we have to stir it,' Lily told him. 'Ten times clockwise and once counter clockwise, that has to happen…' she consulted her book, 'three times.' Both of them reached for the spoon.

'You can stir,' Lily told him feeling flustered, 'it is your potion after all.' James nodded and stirred his potion. Five minutes later it was a radiant yellow. Lily got a flask and James carefully ladled it in.

'There's enough for two people,' Lily told him.

'Well you can have the other portion,' James told her, 'You did help me after all.' Lily shook her head and smiled,

'Both of you should have it. It will make your day perfect together.' James smiled,

'Thanks for all your help Lily.' Together they walked back to the common room.

It was 11:45 pm and James decided to give his potion to Chloe at midnight that way she will be happy since the second she turns seventeen. He quickly went up to his room and fetched the potion bringing it down three minutes before midnight. Chloe was talking about Quidditch and their last practice. James brought down the flask hidden in his robes and sat next to her. She looked over at him and smiled.

'In one minute,' he started, 'You will be seventeen.' Chloe nodded, 'and I want you to have the happiest birthday you can imagine.' Chloe looked at him suspiciously and he took out the flask containing the yellow potion.

'What's this?' she asked him.

'Your present,' he grabbed two goblets and poured half of the potion into each goblet. Everybody was watching him curiously except for Lily. 'I want you to have the best birthday you can imagine. The drinker of this potion will be joyous for twenty four hours, no obstacles.' Chloe looked thrilled,

'Oh my goodness James!' she smiled brightly. James handed her a goblet and then clinked his against hers.

'Cheers.' He told her and then he drank the liquid inside of his glass.

'Oh my!' Chloe licked her lips, 'It tasted like melted toffee!' James looked at her confused,

'Mine tasted like hot chocolate with whipped cream!'

'It tastes different to each drinker, it will taste like their favourite flavour.' Lily told them. A few minutes later James kissed Chloe good night and then went to bed feeling extremely happy.


	15. The Worst Birthday Ever

The Worst Birthday Ever

The next morning James woke up from the sun coming through his window. It was a perfect day for Chloe's birthday. Even though the sun shone, the snow did not melt. He met her downstairs and they headed for breakfast, Chloe's favourite breakfast foods were served. They had a Quidditch match that day and they had to eat a good breakfast. After pancakes, eggs and bacon they headed of to the change room where they changed into their robes.

Chloe did not fumble with the ball, her passes were never intercepted and they were always on target. She scored eighty points. James caught the snitch making them beat Ravenclaw 240-60 making Gryffindor win the Quidditch Cup. The team were screaming and jumping all over Chloe and James. Chloe and James looked up into the stands and saw Sirius, Lily, Mel and Lupin beaming down on them. Katie looked a little upset which made sense considering she was on the Hufflepuff team but she smiled at her friends. James kissed Chloe in the middle of the field and was wondering if life got any better than this. Up in the stands Lily looked upset and she walked away. Mel chased after her,

'Lily!' she shouted chasing after her, 'Lily what's wrong?' Lily looked really anxious and confused as if she did not know what to do with herself. She breathed deeply trying to calm herself down,

'I think I might love him,' Lily told Mel. Mel was extremely confused,

'Love?' Mel exclaimed, she didn't know that Lily even liked anybody! 'Love who Lily?'

'James!' Lily nearly shouted at her finally getting it off her chest. 'I love James Potter!' People passed and gave Lily strange looks. Mel tried to calm Lily down and lead her towards a bench,

'Let's talk about this rationally Lily,' Mel told her holding Lily still, 'James and Chloe…'Mel said slowly, 'James and Chloe are together. They are happy together.' Lily nodded and looked at Mel as if she was insane.

'I clearly know that!' Lily exclaimed, 'If I didn't realize that would I be acting like this?' Lily pointed at herself.

'You can't do that to Chloe,' Mel told her. 'You had your chance.'

'I know! But what if it isn't too late? Maybe it isn't too late!'

'Chloe!' Mel shouted at her, 'She is your best friend!'

'Your right!' Lily told her, 'I just need to…Well I don't know what I need to do. Mel tell me what to do.' Lily looked close to tears,

'Get over him Lily, that's what you need to do. You cannot hurt Chloe. Just let them be happy. Pretend as though you have no feelings for him. I'll pretend that this little episode of yours never happened.' Lily hugged Mel quickly, wiped her eyes and regained her composure.

'Ok,' Lily told Mel when she was ready, 'Let's go.' They got up and went to find Chloe and James. They found them walking around the courtyard with Lupin, Sirius and Katie.

'This is the best birthday ever James,' Chloe told him. 'Thank you.' Lily and Mel walked up to them and Mel nodded at Lily and made sure she was OK.

'Great game you guys,' Lily told them acknowledging them both. James felt a small flutter in his stomach as Lily glanced over to James. Sirius, Katie, Mel, Lily and Lupin let James take Chloe out for a walk and they headed back to the common room. Sirius said goodbye to Katie outside of the common room and made plans to eat dinner together which meant sitting on their own benches but facing each other with their plates on their laps and talking. The prefects kept a close eye on them since they tried to eat at each other's tables a few times. After a while Sirius asked Lily about her feelings for James.

'I think I'm falling in love with him,' Lily told them. 'I just don't know what to do about it. Chloe is my best friend and I really don't want to hurt her.' Sirius's eyes went wide and Lily turned around to see what he was looking at. Chloe stood there with James at her side. Anger brewed in her eyes and Lily searched for words to say,

'C-C-C-hloe,' Lily stuttered looking extremely frightened.

'You're supposed to be my friend!' Chloe told her. Tears quietly ran down both girls cheeks. Inside, James had never been happier in his entire life. Lily Evans; the girl he had liked for so long might be falling in love with him. Lily gave Chloe a pleading look.

'You love him?' Chloe looked straight into Lily's eyes.

'I don't know,' Lily said quietly avoiding Chloe's stare, 'I think so.' Chloe looked at James.

'James?' she waited for him to comment on what was happening but he was still so surprised.

'I love her,' he said without thinking and Lily looked up quickly and stared at James who stared back. Chloe started sobbing and ran through the portrait hole and exclaimed,

'This is the worst birthday ever!'


	16. The Search

The Search

James stared at the portrait hole and then at Lily, both were wondering whether to go after her.

'I'll go,' Mel told them and she ran through the hole.

'I have to go,' Lupin told them looking over at Sirius and James, they understood. This left Sirius, James and Lily in the common room. James sat down on a chair.

'I don't get it,' James told them. 'Did I brew the potion wrong?'

'How can you not get it?' Sirius told him, 'Both of you couldn't be truly happy when you both desired different things. Chloe wanted you James and you wanted Lily. Both of you couldn't be truly happy.'

'But why did it chose my happiness over Chloe's?' James asked.

'Maybe you drank more? Maybe because this,' Sirius acknowledged the two of them, 'is what's truly meant to be.' James looked over at Lily,

'Did you mean it?' he asked her. With her eyes still filled with tears she nodded. A few awkward moments passed and then Mel burst through the portrait hole,

'I can't find her,' Mel told them who was completely out of breath.

'I checked the Great Hall and the Library.' Sirius got Katie and they all searched through empty classrooms. Lily and Katie searched all of the girls bathrooms.

'Have you seen Chloe?' Katie yelled at Moaning Myrtle.

'No need to be snappy with me,' Myrtle told her calmly.

'Myrtle?' Lily asked calmly, 'Will you please tell me if Chloe was in here?' Myrtle paced the bathroom for a moment, she relished these moments when she had company. Mel burst through the door,

'Have you found her?' Lily asked. Mel shook her head and looked questioningly at Moaning Myrtle.

'What is she doing?' Mel asked puzzled.

'Not co-operating!' Katie told her. 'Myrtle! Has Chloe been in here! Please! It's important!'

'No, no she hasn't,' Myrtle told them and the girls left quickly before hearing Myrtle utter another sound. The girls ran through the halls asking everybody if they had seen Chloe and they all shook their heads. As they were running Christina Flemming and Kaycee Handley stepped out,

'Move,' Katie told them.

'No,' Christina said stubbornly.

'Why should I move for scum like you?' Kaycee told her.

'I am extremely busy maybe we can set up an appointment and talk about this later.' Katie told them. Kaycee didn't move, she just started talking,

'You think that some goody two shoes Hufflepuff can come and steal my man?' Mel, Lily and Katie all took their wands out and fired different hexes and spells. Lily silenced Kaycee and Katie used jelly-legs on her. Christina stood there alone against three wands to her one, but only one wand finished her off.

'Petrificus Totalus,' Mel incanted. Christina went rigid and dropped to the ground.

They searched for Chloe while keeping an eye out for the boys who they finally found on the third floor.

'No luck?' Sirius asked them. All of them shook their heads.

'It's all my fault!' Lily exclaimed.

'No, no don't think like that Lily' James told her. 'What we have to concentrate on his how to find her.' Sirius suddenly perked up,

'Of for christ's sake mate,' Sirius said pushing James a little, 'are we thick enough to forget one of our very own inventions?' James face brightened up.

'I can't believe I didn't think of that!' James exclaimed and they ran to their dormitory leaving the girls very confused. They waited on the steps outside of the common room for the boys to come down. The boys barged into their room,

'Where is it?' James asked looking around the room. Sirius face screwed up while trying to remember where he had seen it last.

'No idea,' Sirius told him. 'When did we last use it?'

'November!' James exclaimed, 'We have been so tied up in our female drama that we haven't even been to see Moony during the full moon!'

'For Christ sake this is bloody mad!' Sirius started rummaging through his suitcase and James did the same. They looked through their dressers and under nearth their beds. Sirius undid his bed and searched through his sheets as he shifted the mattress he saw a bit of parchment peaking out. He grabbed the parchment and handed it to James who had his wand out,

'I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good!' he incanted. Ink started to appear on the Marauders Map which was a detailed map of the school and showed where everybody within the grounds were located. Sirius and James huddled around the map each holding a corner of the parchment. Their eyes searched the map for the dot labeled "Chloe Campbell". James found it first and pointed,

'I found her!' then a worried expression formed on his face, 'she's right next to the Whomping Willow.' Sirius found her dot which was located right by another dot labeled Remus Lupin.


	17. By The Whomping Willow

By The Whomping Willow

The boys ran out of their dormitory skipping two stairs at a time. They met the girls waiting outside of the portrait hole.

'Stay here,' James ordered. The obstacle they were about to meet would be too dangerous to involve many people in. Once the boys got into a deserted corridor they pulled out the invisibility cloak and draped it over themselves. They quickly made their way outside and headed to the Whomping Willow. They spotted Chloe right away who was crying on the stump of the Whomping Willow. James and Sirius ran over to her to and pulled off the invisibility cloak.

'Chloe!' James shouted from a few meters away. Chloe looked up to see one of the last people she wanted to see.

'Stay away from me!' She yelled. James didn't even think that Chloe could use that sort of tone. Her voice was hoarse and her eyes were angry.

'No, Chloe you don't understand!' James begged pleadingly as he stopped in front of Chloe.

'What are you doing here?' she asked.

'Just please come inside,' James pleaded. 'Please!' Chloe shook her head,

'Why should I listen to you?' Sirius turned around and looked at the Marauders Map. Lupin's dot was advancing towards them from the forest.

'Shh!' Sirius hushed them. He leaned over to James,

'He can hear us,' Sirius whispered. They then heard the rustling of bushes. Chloe looked frightened as she stared at the bushes. Then they all heard footsteps running over to them, James looked up and to his surprise saw Lily, Katie and Mel running over.

'What are you doing here?' He whispered harshly.

'Well we waited but you were obviously not making that much progress!' Mel retorted. Mel ran over to Chloe,

'Chloe…' she started to say but then noticed that Chloe's attention was elsewhere. Mel followed her gaze to the bushes as something stepped out. In it's eyes the full moon reflected and it howled as it advanced on the young witches and wizards.

'A werewolf!' Lily exclaimed, her eyes filled with terror. The girls slowly backed away with their wands out and ready. Sirius walked up to Remus Lupin,

'It's ok,' he whispered, 'it's me. Your pal; Sirius.'

'And me, James.' James told him. The werewolf swiped at both of them just barely missing their faces. As Sirius swung his face around to avoid the scratch he saw the girls behind him with their wands out,

'Don't fire!' he bellowed. The girls were confused. 'Whatever you do! Do not jinx him!' The werewolf started to advance on the girls all looking petrified. The werewolf began to chase at them and the girls started running.

'What should we do?' Lily yelled.

'Sirius told us not to use our wands!' Mel yelled out.

'That's not true!' Katie exclaimed, 'We just can't jinx the werewolf!'

'Spedomis Petropi!' Chloe incanted and waved her wand at all of them. The girls legs instantly sped up and they were running at top speed.

'Werewolves can move faster!' Lily exclaimed, 'We did that essay on them! I know all about them!' Lily thought as she ran as fast as she could the werewolf advancing on them. Just then a stag dove under her legs and pulled her properly onto his back. The stag ran along side Mel who was the closest and Mel hopped on. They ran away leaving Chloe and Katie running as fast as they could. They reached the Whomping Willow again and a great big black dog hopped in between the girls and the werewolf. The werewolf ignored the dog and kept trying to advance on the girls. The dog tackled him to the ground and the dog barked at the girls. The girls ran as fast as they could into the forest and watched from in the bushes. The dog and the werewolf were tackling each other, the dog was putting up a good fight. It seemed like the werewolf was not interested in the dog but only wanted the girls. The dog continued to defend the girls until the werewolf seemed to give off hope.

'Where's the boys?' Chloe asked worriedly.

'Maybe they went to get help.' Katie told her. They averted their attention back to the animals. The werewolf seemed to be pleading with the dog. The dog chased the werewolf in to a tunnel by the Whomping Willow. They noticed that a rat followed them in. Both of them thought that a rat would be terrified of being in the presence of such a ferocious dog and a werewolf. Once the werewolf was inside the dog morphed into a human. Katie's and Chloe's eyes widened as they were looking at the form of Sirius Black.

'Sirius!' Katie exclaimed coming out of the bushes. Sirius whipped around to see Katie and Chloe running towards them. Sirius wasn't expecting to see them. 'You're an Animagus!' Sirius nodded. 'Wow!' Katie exclaimed, she couldn't get over it.

'Does this mean?' Chloe started to ask. 'That the stag was James?' Sirius nodded again. 'Makes sense, he did go for Lily.'

'He told me he was going to get the people who looked like they were struggling the most. You and Katie are in better shape from Quidditch and weren't having as much trouble.'

'Oh…' Chloe said. They could see James running back across the field.

'Are you guys OK?' he asked the girls. The girls nodded, they were still slightly shaken from that nights events.

James turned to Sirius, 'Is he OK?' he asked.

'He's where he belongs.' Sirius told him trying not to convey to much information to the girls. 'Let's head back up.' The four made their way across the school grounds to the castle completely speechless. Chloe and James left Sirius and Katie out by the Hufflepuff common room entrance.

'Are you OK?' Sirius asked her. Katie smiled and nodded her head.

'I'm fine.'

'And your ok with me being an animagus?' Sirius asked her.

'Of course I am,' she said looking at him questioningly. 'Why wouldn't I be OK with that?'

'I didn't tell you.' He told her.

'Some things can be left un-told. You just need to know what the right things to tell me are.' Sirius nodded, he understood.

'Please don't tell anybody. Only James, Peter and Lupin know.'

'My lips are sealed.' She told him. 'You can trust me.' Sirius kissed her good night and then headed to the common room where he found Mel sitting on the steps outside.

'Hey…' he said suspiciously.

'Oh hi Sirius,' she started. 'I didn't want to be a lone but I thought that the three should talk. I don't know where Peter is.' Sirius knew. He was in the Shrieking Shack with Lupin.

'Are you OK?' Sirius asked sitting down.

'I'm f-fine.' She stuttered. 'It was just that today was supposed to go so right for Chloe and it went so wrong. I'm just confused.'

'It was also supposed to go right for James too.' Sirius told her. Mel understood.

'He loved her that much?'

'Ya, he really did.'

'Well I think I'm going to walk quietly through the common room.' She glanced at her watch which read 1:30 AM. Mel got up to see the portrait of the Fat Lady sleeping.

'Bertie Botts.' Mel said loudly. The Fat Lady snored on.

'Bertie Botts.' Sirius yelled waking several portraits.

'Pipe down!' Yelled a portrait.

'Well then tell her to wake up!' The Fat Lady yawned and woke up.

'What are you two doing up so late?' She asked.

'Well Fat Lady I was up to no good.' The Fat Lady rolled her eyes.

'Password?'

'Bertie Botts.' Mel told her and the Fat Lady revealed the hole to the common room. Mel and Sirius glanced at the three sitting on the couch and then hustled on up to their own dormitories.


	18. Be With Me

Be With Me

James had been scared since the moment he had Lily and Chloe in the same room together. Chloe glared over at Lily. Chloe was furious and Lily was sad.

'Can we sit down perhaps?' James asked gesturing to the chairs. The common room was empty and they could talk openly. They all sat on separate chairs, nobody daring to sit next to each other on the couch. The three of them sat there eying each other wondering when somebody was going to open their mouth. James nodded to Sirius and Mel as they quickly moved their way through the common room.

'OK…' James started.

'Chloe I'm sorry!' Lily exclaimed. Her eyes watered and a single tear formed. 'I never meant to hurt you by this. I didn't want you to find out.'

'So you were going to do it behind my back?' Chloe lashed out angrily. Lily shook her head.

'No! He wasn't supposed to know either!' Lily pointed at James and Chloe looked over at him.

'And you love her?' She asked.

'I do.' He said. Chloe turned to Lily, 'and you do to?'

'I do.' James felt a small burst of happiness.

'Well, I hope you two are very happy together.' Chloe told them. Lily looked over at James and James did not like the look she was conveying. Lily opened her mouth;

'We won't be together if it's going to break up our friendship.' Lily told Chloe. Chloe felt a small bit of happiness, the happiest she felt in the past few hours. Lily was still her best friend. 'I can't choose who I fall for Chloe. I never meant to like him. Quite frankly I had a lot of fun hating him.' Chloe knew it was true. James couldn't believe what was happening. He had waited years to hear Lily say that she loved him and now it was all going away.

'So what we had lasted for a couple hours?' James asked.

'It was never there.' Lily told him. 'It came down to my best friend and a boy. If it came to me or Sirius you would chose Sirius.' James moved his chair so that he was sitting inches away from Lily and put his hands on her knees.

'Lily listen to me.' James stared into her eyes and she bit her lip and gazed back.

'I'll listen.' She told him.

'I have loved you for years and I have waited for this moment for just as long. The first time I saw you on the Hogwarts Express I thought to myself that you were one of the most beautiful girls I had ever met. Some veela can't even compare! I have liked you since our second year as I got to know you better. The more we argued the more I loved you. I loved you through you telling me off, through you showing me up in class. There is nothing that could stop me from loving you.' Chloe got up and started to walk away.

'I'm going to let you guys talk.' Chloe told them.

James looked up at her and mouthed, 'Thank you.' She returned this comment with a small half-smile. James turned his attention back to Lily. 'Lily?' She nodded and remained silent. 'Lily I can't imagine going on to tomorrow knowing that you love me but won't be with me. Lily please be with me.' Lily realized how different this James was. This James didn't tease and bug her, he loved her and wanted to be with her. Him asking her to the ball was so different from him asking her to be with him now. He was pleading as if asking her to save his life.

'I can't.' She whispered. 'I'm sorry.' Lily got up and left leaving James a lone in the common room.


	19. The Sleepless Night

The Sleepless Night

Chloe was sitting on her bed with Mel in her pajamas. Chloe was eating her toffee that Lily gave her. Toffee always made Chloe feel better. Chloe had a few tears running down her face when Lily walked into the room. Lily stood there frozen at the doorway.

'You can come in you know.' Chloe told her. Lily slowly inched forwards and then changed into her pajamas.

'What happened?' Mel asked. Lily looked over at Chloe.

'Tell us.' Chloe told her. Lily sat on her own bed facing her two friends.

'I-I-I…' Lily stuttered and her eyes began to water. Lily tried to contain the tears 'I told him that I c-can't b-b-be with him.' The tears started streaming down her face. Chloe looked over at her best friend who was hurting so badly. A part of her was thinking _See how much it hurts?_ But the other part wanted to see Lily happy again. Mel looked torn as she sat there looking at her two friends crying over the same boy.

'He's just a boy…' Mel started.

'No…' Lily whispered. 'He's not just a boy. He's the boy.' Chloe suddenly realized what she had to do.

'I liked him.' Chloe told Lily. Lily nodded and started crying more. 'I liked him a lot and finding out about your guys feelings was really, really horrible.'

'I'm sorry Chloe I really am! If I could I would hate him forever!' Lily exclaimed. Chloe held out her hand to stop Lily.

'I'm not done.' Lily wasn't sure what the outcome was going to be of this conversation and she was really scared. 'Lily there are a few differences in our situation.' Chloe got up and walked over to Lily's bed and sat down next to her. 'Lily I like him…but you love him. He likes me but he loves you.' Mel was surprised to here this but the feeling that Lily was experiencing was far more than shock. 'Lill I want you to be happy.'

'I won't be happy knowing that your un-happy.' Lily told her.

'I'll get over it.' Chloe told her. 'I'll find somebody knew who will love me and I'll love him. I want to find something that you and James have and I won't find that in James himself.' Lily reached over and gave her friend a hug and Chloe hugged back.

James was pacing his dormitory and Sirius watched from his bed. James kept on opening his mouth to say something but nothing would come out.

'Sleep on it mate.' Sirius told him. Without a word James nodded and laid in bed. He did not fall asleep. He was awake when he heard four feet entering the dormitory at sun rise. James bolted up to see his friends Remus and Peter enter the room.

'You look horrible.' Remus told James.

'Considering his night he looks fine to me.' Sirius commented who awoke from the sound of his friends entering.

'What happened?' Peter asked as he sat down on his own bed and climbed in fully clothed.

'Lily admits she loves me. Chloe finds out and runs away. We all go out to find her by the Whomping Willow where we have an encounter with a werewolf…' Lupin grimaced.

'Everybody OK?' he asked. James nodded.

'Everybody's fine. Some people know about us.' Lupin jumped off his bed.

'Don't worry Moony! Nobody knows about you! The girls just know about Prongs and I. Well Chloe and Katie do.' Lupin re-collected himself.

'I want a full story of my actions tomorrow morning after I hear about your ordeal James.' Lupin told him. James nodded and then continued his story.

'Padfoot and I rescue the girls. Lily chooses her friendship with Chloe over me even after my confessing my un-dying love for her.'

'So sorry about that James.' Peter told him.

'Oh Peter thanks for being with Remus tonight.' James told him.

'Oh no problem. We have missed you the past couple months though. Next time?'

'We'll be there.' Sirius told him. James looked around and saw Lupin, Peter and Sirius all in bed trying to fall asleep and decided that he should try and get some too.

'Goodnight.' He told them…but he didn't fall asleep.


	20. Through The Portrait Hole

Through The Portrait Hole

The common room was filled before breakfast. Exams were coming up and people were studying at every chance they could get. Mel and Sirius were talking about last night.

'He's in a bloody state.' Sirius told her. 'Not sure he got to sleep last night.'

'That's horrible.' Mel told him. She decided to wait and see what Lily wanted to do before blurting out her conversation with Chloe and Lily the previous night. James, Peter and Remus came downstairs and sat down on the couch. Mel realized what Sirius was talking about; James was not looking good. His hair was a mess, his eyes were red and puffy and his skin was pale.

'Can we go down to breakfast?' James asked.

'Have to wait for Katie.' Sirius told him. Katie would send a spell that informed him that she was outside of the portrait hole waiting. She changed it on a regular basis but he could always tell it was her signal. Sometimes a song played quietly in his ears.

'And I'm waiting for Lily and Chloe.' Mel told them.

'Oh…right.' James started to stand up right when Sirius started to have a laughing fit. Nothing was funny but he could not control his laughter. He walked over to the portrait hole where Katie stood.

'Good signal.' He told her when she turned off the fit.

'I think we'll head down then now?' James asked hoping to avoid Lily and Chloe. Lupin and Peter stood up to leave with James. James kept working his way to the portrait hole but he kept getting stopped by people who were congratulating him on winning the quidditch cup.

'Missed a great party last night. Why didn't you show?' A fifth year asked.

'I had other plans. Sorry 'bout that.' James told him. James kept making his way through to the door.

'Fantastic catch James.' A second year told him.

'Thank you.'

'You and your girlfriend were fantastic.' A fourth year exclaimed.

'Thank you but she isn't my girlfriend anymore. She'd love to hear you say that though.' Then James heard some applauding as Chloe walked down the stairs.

'Amazing game Chloe!' Somebody yelled out. James looked over to Chloe and tried to read her face expression. Was she angry still? Chloe gave him a weak smile. James nodded in acknowledgement and then worked his way to the portrait hole again. He then felt a tap on his back. He turned around to ask if he could make it to the portrait hole without anymore badgering but then he felt his lips press into someone else's. He saw a flash of red hair and he gave into the kiss. Everybody in the common room was whispering.

'I thought he was with Chloe…'

'And that's her best friend!' James broke a part from Lily and then he saw her emerald green eyes. James gave her a confused look.

'I want to be with you.' Lily told him and James smiled broadly. He looked over to Chloe who was actually smiling at the scene and she nodded her approval.

'You have a great friend.' He told her.

'I know.' Lily told him.

'After all…' he started, 'She did give up me for your happiness.'

'Do I sense a bit of cockiness?' Lily asked him.

'Yes you do,' James told her and Lily kissed him again.

'That's ok,' she told him. 'It's all apart of your charm.' James leaned down and kissed her again until Sirius yelled at him

'Oy!' Sirius yelled. 'I'm hungry.'

'You guys going to cut the snogging and come with us?' Katie asked from outside the portrait hole. Both her and Sirius were grinning madly. A part of them wanted Lily and James to resume what they were doing but their stomach's told them otherwise.

'We're coming.' James told them and he held Lily's hand for the first time and walked out of the portrait hole.

THE END

A/N- Read and Review. Should I sequel?


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